Ricciardo, Massa disappointed by collision

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Williams rival Felipe Massa rued a missed opportunity after the pair collided on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Ricciardo surged forwards from seventh but was squeezed between Massa and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, making contact with the Williams in the process and leaving the pair with punctures.

Ricciardo could only recover to 15th position, while Massa was twice-lapped on his way to 17th.

"At the start, the best line for me was straight down the middle," he said.

"I saw the gap between Kimi and Felipe and I knew it was close, but I thought they would make a bit of room. I haven’t seen the footage and don’t want to put the blame on anyone so we’ll call it a racing incident for now.

"It’s a shame for the team, I think we could have gained some positions off the line and then the race would have been completely different.

"But we had the puncture, and that damaged the floor so we lost some downforce. I tried to do what I could, we started to catch some cars towards the end but by then I didn’t have the grip to do anything."

Massa felt his lost a chance to collect a good haul of points.

"A very tough day for me today right from the first lap," he lamented. "I had a bad start and then had contact with Ricciardo and it took me a long time to get back to the pits. From there it was the end of the race barring any miracle."